


Falling In Reverse

by Maone



Category: Alarm für Cobra 11
Genre: Angst, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:32:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maone/pseuds/Maone





	1. Chapter 1

“You hide evidence, “ Semir bit his lip at the accusing tone of his partner. Andre moved towards him, stopping mere inches from his face “you covered a suspect “he continued, his voice tight with barely controlled anger and Semir found himself unable to look at him “ _ You lied to your partner _ , “he hissed “and now you expect me to just drop everything and trust whatever you say because what? Because you know your cousin? Sort of like I thought I knew you? But guess what Semir, I was apparently wrong. What are the odds you aren’t?“

Semir shoved Andre away. “Because you are wrong and have been from the start! “ He spat. 

Andre shoved him back. “You know damn well that I’m right, just too stubborn to admit it.“

Semir glared at him, voice quivering with anger. “The only stubborn one here is you, and you know damn well that the evidence proves nothing beyond Hassan driving the Jaguar. You’ve got no weapon, no DNA, you’ve got nothing to prosecute him, you’re doing this out of  **spite** and couldn’t care less if you’re right.” 

Andre opened his mouth but before he could say anything the door flew open and Engelhardt stepped between them.

“That’s enough, gentlemen! “She ordered.

They both looked at her in surprise and moved away from each other, putting as much distance as it was in such a small confined room possible. Engelhardt shook her head in disbelief at the display.

“What the hell is going on here? Two of my best men but fighting like two unbalanced teenagers.” She stood in the middle of the room, both men on the opposing sides of each other. Semir looked on the ground, shame flashing across his features at his own outburst, while Andre stood stiffly by the window keeping his back to both his partner and chief.

Engelhardt turned to Semir and threw a file on his table. He flinched at his cousin’s picture right next to bold ‘Hassan Gerkhan’ decorating the first page.

“We confirmed Hassan Gerkhan as the driver of the Jaguar. How long have you known about this?”

Semir didn’t look at his superior, but the disappointing tone of her words was telling enough and another flash of guilt went through his mind.

“Since this morning,” he admitted quietly, the situation was bad enough, there was no need to make it any worse by lying.

“Mr.Gerkhan is also a suspect of killing the man in the trunk. I believe you’re well aware of that.”

“Yes, he is.” “He didn’t do it.” Both Andre and Semir said simultaneously and briefly shared a look before quickly looking away once more. Engelhardt frowned at the tension.

“It’s rare when either of you is wrong about something, you have always worked together as a team and I would hate to get involved if you’re incapable of getting over each other’s differences.” She walked up to Semir making him look at her “Whether you’re right or wrong, Mr.Gerkhan, had the headquarters found out about your involvement in hiding evidence, you would have been suspended and likely prosecuted for tampering with the evidence. I will overlook this for now, but there’s nothing I can do for you if you continue, there is only so much I can overlook before it threatens more than your position, I hope you understand.” She whispered. He looked away and nodded. Neither of them had seen Andre glance over his shoulder at the quiet exchange.

*******

After the door shut behind Engelhardt, an uneasy silence filled the room, interrupted only by the muffled sound of the station’s life beyond the room. Andre remained standing by the window, his back turned to his partner, anger still lingered in the air. 

Semir watched his partner’s stiff posture, and he knew that Andre was just as angry as he was, he felt regret for lying to him, but looking at it now, would Andre be any more understanding if he had told him? 

He was torn out of thought with the door slamming shut; he looked up and saw that Andre had stormed out, the blinds still dangling from the violent movement. Semir frowned, well there goes any hope at convincing his partner. He’d have to handle this himself and prove to Andre that he was right, he knew his family; they were not killers.

Semir got up and promptly left the office.

*******

It took a painstaking trip back to his uncle’s apartment, but after many accusations of betrayal and lies, he got the information he needed. Kenan had seen Freiter arrive at the apartment, no doubt to plant the money and frame Hassan. Now it was clear that the brothel’s owner had something to do with it, Semir wasn’t entirely sure what, but he’d find out soon. He considered calling Andre, but gathering more evidence wouldn’t hurt before he took that step. If there was one thing he knew about his partner, it was that convincing him about anything took some effort.

Semir pulled up near the Freiter’s residence and locked up his car, it was late at night and the street fortunately wasn’t very lit up, so he had some cover while figuring out how to proceed. He looked around and made sure nobody was around, then climbed over the fence. Trespassing was the least of his problems with his job already being at stake as it was, he might as well go all the way, especially if Hassan’s life is at risk.

Making his way around the garden to the back door, Semir saw a light coming from inside and stopped crouching by the wall and inching his way closer until the voices became clearer.

“I promised you I would help you out didn’t I? I’ll get you on that boat in no time and you’ll be out of here and start fresh.” Said the male voice and Semir could hear a shuffling sound of items being packed up. 

‘On a boat?’ Semir muttered to himself and slowly raised his head to a nearby window to get a better look. 

“Thank you, boss. I really appreciate it! “Said another, more familiar voice.

Getting a clearer look, Semir could see two men in the middle of the room, one being his cousin, looking all too excited while the other packed a bag of some items, spare clothes maybe?

“It’ll be a little uncomfortable but I promise it’ll be over soon. “ Freiter said with too much of a pleasing tone for Semir.  _ He will kill you, you idiot _ , Semir thought.

“It’s better than prison. “ Hassan replied with an awkward laugh.

“It sure is. “ Freiter replied with a smirk, Semir frowned. It didn’t take a degree in psychology to know that he wasn’t planning to let Hassan go; he was a liability and definitely worth more dead than alive. If Freiter killed him, nobody would have suspected him, Hassan made too many mistakes to walk out of this unscathed, but then again, so did Semir. 

Knowing that letting the two of them leave would mean the last time seeing Hassan alive, Semir took a leap of faith and came out of his cover. Something he hoped, he wouldn’t regret in the long run.

He pulled out his gun and opened the door, both men’s attention immediately on him. Hassan looked at him with wide eyes, while Freiter froze in shock.

“Don’t move. “ Semir warned, his gun raised at the club owner. Freiter narrowed his eyes at the motion and glanced around the room as if to make sure this wasn’t a takedown.

“Semir?! What are you doing here? How did you find me? “ Hassan babbled and in one long stride stood beside his cousin, Semir grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back behind him.

“ _ You stupid, reckless idiot, did you seriously believe he would help you after you did all the dirty work for him, nearly dug your own grave. _ ” Semir hissed in Turkish, shoving Hassan angrily, his cousin looked down in shame. Semir turned back to Freiter. “You might as well spill it, Freiter. I already know Hassan wasn’t responsible for the body.”

Freiter smirked.

“Spill it? Spill what exactly? And what are you doing here, trespassing my property, Mr…?”

“We already had the pleasure.” Semir said, keeping his aim steady.

Freiter seemed to think about that for a moment, but soon a realization dawned upon him and he looked from Semir to Hassan.

“Oh, yeah... I thought the name sounded familiar. Gerkhan wasn’t it.” He said with a chuckle. “Cop and a petty criminal, quite a family.”

“I know you set Hassan up. “ Semir hissed.

Freiter raised an eyebrow.

“Set him up? Why would I set him up with anything? “He asked curiously.

“ _ Kenan saw him _ . “ Semir said, glancing at Hassan and then back at Freiter. “I have a witness, so don’t pull that innocent card on me. I know you took the money.“ 

The man blinked, but a smile remained on his face. “You have a witness, huh? “He said while Semir’s gun remained pointed at him. “I don’t think you realize how easy it is to put a gag on that witness of yours and the rest of you filthy immigrant trash, If anything Gerkhan, the odds are turned against you at the moment.“ 

“They won’t be for long.” Semir frowned.

Freiter’s smile fell. “You’d be right about that.”

Semir saw Freiter’s hand move, but to his own surprise, he failed to react as fast as he should. It felt like he had plenty of time to react but in reality, the shot rung barely a breath away from Freiter’s last word. It was a clumsy shot of an amateur, but it hit and Semir felt the searing pain spread across his abdomen causing him to drop his own gun in shock.

His senses now blinded by the immense pain, left him falling, his body hitting the ground hard sending another wave of shock through him.

He heard Hassan shouting his name and felt his cousin’s shaking hands grasp his shoulders but that was it, the unpleasant wet warmth pooled around his body and Semir could only weakly wrap his arms around his middle in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

“It’s just starting with you Gerkhan, my hard earned money is already on its way to be invested, gold oasis you wouldn’t believe and you and your family are so kind to wipe the trail nice and clean for me. You’re just like Teppel, think you’re smart when all you’ve done is hand yourself on a golden platter for me to do whatever I want with you.” Semir cried out as a solid kick landed in his stomach and the unbearable pain that followed nearly knocked him unconscious right there and then.

He felt a terrible closeness and hot breath against his ear as Freiter leaned in “We’re not done yet, so sit nice and tight and when I’m finished with Hassan over here, I’ll think about something really special to do with you, alright? Good boy.” He was patted on the cheek and then Freiter moved away.

There was a yelp and a shuffling sound of Hassan being pulled away-

“I suggest you come with me. You’ve killed more than enough, don’t you think?” Semir heard his attacker’s voice slowly growing further and further away as he dragged Hassan towards the door.

“ **You bastard, I trusted you!** ” Hassan shouted, and then the lights went out in the room and a complete darkness surrounded Semir.

He tried to get up despite his injury knowing full well that Freiter wouldn’t just stop at shipping Hassan away. He moved his hand around, looking for his gun but it looked like Freiter grabbed it. With a frustrated exhale, Semir pulled himself up on his elbow, the simple movement exhausting him and he remained still for a moment, trying to collect his bearings.

The bleeding wasn’t slowing down and as Semir’s sight adjusted to the sudden darkness; he began to crawl towards an outline that looked like a sofa.

The few shuffles along the ground were some most agonizing seconds of his life and as soon as his sticky hand touched the soft fabric of the sofa, he breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled down the sofa cover, bundling it up and pressing it as tightly as he could against his middle, biting back a cry of pain and blinking away tears that the sudden contact with an open wound caused.

He looked around helplessly, there was no way he could get up and his phone laid forgotten in the BMW, before he’d find a phone in this place he’d either bleed out or Hassan would be long dead and Freiter gone or on his way back to finish him off. He should have been more careful, should’ve told Andre.

His breath hitched as the regret began to settle in. He didn’t know what to do, surrounded by darkness and the grim realization that he was probably not going to walk out of this alive, he cursed under his breath.

Several moments passed when Semir heard a loud bang in the distance and he lifted his head from the cushion he rested against. Listening on, he heard doors being thrown open and fear began to creep up on him, if Freiter was back he had nothing to defend himself with and with one frantic look around; nowhere to hide.

The loud smashing of the door was growing nearer and accompanied by rushed steps. With wide eyes, Semir pushed weakly against the sofa that was his only stability at the moment and with great difficulty, dragged himself further away from the entrance to the room. He didn’t know what he was trying to achieve; it didn’t matter, Freiter would just shoot him regardless of how far he made it, but maybe he just didn’t feel like just sitting and waiting for his death.

He hardly made it to the other side of the sofa, leaving behind an unsightly trail of blood, when the door to the room flew open and Semir clutched at his stomach pathetically, curling up as much as he could and preparing for the worst.

Barely catching the sight of the figure that entered, the light suddenly blinded him. As his eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden brightness, he wasn’t met with the final shot to end his life like he prepared himself for, but instead, he was met with a mortified look from his partner.

“Andre...” the immense relief that Semir felt in that very moment left him nearly boneless. Same couldn’t have been said about Andre, who was absolutely speechless and Semir couldn’t tell what was going through his mind, if he wasn’t nearly sprawled there bleeding to death, he would be a little bit worried, it was very unlike his partner to be like this. Andre’s hands moved with uncertainty as if he was worried he could hurt Semir, but that was impossible.

Semir’s eyes followed Andre’s hands slowly unfolding the bloody mess covering his abdomen, and he felt a wave of sickness overcome him at the sight of his own gaping wound. He let out a quiet curse and quickly looked away.

Andre got up abruptly and Semir looked at him in panic, but his partner motioned to him to remain where he was.

“Don’t worry, just hold on, I’ll be right back,” he reassured, his voice unusually weak.

As promised, he was back as soon as he left and now with a handful of towels and kneeling in front of Semir, Andre began to wrap them tightly around his middle, the intense pressure causing Semir to cry out in pain.

“I know, I know…” Andre muttered and placed his hand on the side of Semir’s neck, his thumb running over his cheek in comfort. As soon as all the makeshift bandages were in place, Andre grabbed his phone and called for backup and through his increasing dizziness, Semir heard the words ‘suspect apprehended’ and his attention snapped right back, he shifted to sit up properly, the motion making him wince. Andre’s arm shot out to hold him in place while he put his phone away.

“You stopped Freiter?” Semir asked hopefully.

Andre nodded and carefully helped Semir up on the sofa.

“Caught him while he was trying to kidnap your cousin, ” Andre explained while taking off his coat and wrapping it around Semir.

“Hassan’s okay?” 

Andre exhaled in frustration and ran a hand through his hair “Yes, of course he’s fine, he’s the one who came up to me screaming that Freiter killed you, Jesus Christ Semir...”

“Mhm, sounds like him” Semir muttered, feeling the tiredness coming on, Andre helped him lay on his side and rubbed comforting circles on his back while looking anxiously at the door, still waiting for that backup.

“Don’t fall asleep. I’d rather not have to revive you with Freiter still handcuffed outside.” Andre warned seriously as soon as Semir’s eyes started drooping.

“Don’t worry,” Semir murmured and patted his partner on the leg,” I’ll tell everyone that you’re a great kisser.”

Andre took Semir’s hand and held it tightly in his own. “Yeah, I bet you will.”

*****

The reinforcements arrived with ambulance not long after, Semir only shared a moment with Hassan before they wheeled him away on a stretcher and his cousin taken away to the station along with Freiter. He spent most of the ambulance ride dozing off, mostly thanks to the medication they gave him to ease the pain. He hasn’t seen Andre since the paramedics showed up and pushed his reluctant partner out of the way, so he could only assume that he was back at the station dealing with Freiter.

And probably Hassan too, he thought regretfully. No matter how naïve and stupid his cousin’s actions were, they were still criminal and even if the murder charges were dropped, he had still knowingly tried to commit a fraud and that was something Semir couldn’t get him out of. In fact, he was sure his own actions that night would bring him some unpleasant consequences that he’d rather not think about.

Upon arriving to the hospital, Semir caught a glimpse of a familiar Mercedes pulling up not far behind, but as the darkness overtook him, he only took that as his mind playing tricks on him.

Semir wasn’t sure how long was he unconscious, but the pain was nearly gone altogether, replaced by the odd feeling of missing a half of his body. Turning his head felt like a feat only comparable to climbing Mount Everest, hospital drugs were not something he’d ever get used to. When he finally took in his surroundings, he was met with Andre’s figure standing by the window.

He was going to ask him what was he doing there, but his brain still struggled to turn on, so he just ended up staring at Andre until his partner probably sensed it and turned around.

“Well, good morning Sleeping Beauty” Andre said and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the chair next to it where he must have been already before “I don’t think I have to ask how are you feeling, do I?” He squeezed Semir’s wrist compassionately.

Semir squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, until he finally croaked.

“Horrible”

“I can imagine,” Andre said, his grip remaining on Semir’s hand “Your intestines are fine, I don’t know whether to be relieved or amazed that Freiter is such a terrible shot. Missing everything like that almost takes a skill.”

“Very nice. ”

Semir reopened his eyes and looked at Andre.

“How long have you been here?” He murmured.

Andre checked his watch “Something close to six hours.”

“Six hours? Aren’t you bored?” Semir blinked slowly.

“Terribly, I almost got in there with you to take a nap” Andre poked him in the shoulder “but that’s not much different from any other day at work.”

Semir hummed “I’ve never heard you complain.”

“I got used to it” Andre shrugged.

“You poor thing.” Semir smiled.

They remained quiet for a moment before Semir asked the lingering question.

“So Hassan’s getting locked up, isn’t he? ”

Andre looked at him with somewhat regretful expression and nodded.

“Probably, the murder charges are dropped since Freiter had a strong motive and it all points to him trying to frame Hassan who was way too eager and didn’t ask any questions. Even if he wasn’t aware of the body in that Jaguar’s trunk, he accepted money for disposing of the car, that’s not going to look good for him in court.”

“Thought so, Hassan was always a troublemaker. His dad’s going to be furious.” Semir sighed.

“That’s the last thing I’d worry about with how things turned out.” Andre said thoughtfully.

Semir placed his free hand over his abdomen, feeling the tight bandage wrapped around it. It was a close call; he was always somewhat ready for the risk that his job came with, but this time he was genuinely scared. Whether it was the darkness or the knowledge of his potential killer to just come back and finish the job, it still made him feel uneasy enough to try to not think about it too much.

It all came down to their argument; it probably would have never gotten this bad if they found a common ground, Semir thought regretfully.

“We never argued this much before” he said out loud, Andre looked at him curiously.

“No,” he admitted. “We didn’t.”

Semir didn’t really know what else to say, he felt guilty for lying to his partner and even thought Andre wasn’t particularly blameless in sparking up the argument, it really didn’t have to come to that to begin with.

“I’m sorry for lying to you” it felt odd saying it, but Andre saved his life and most likely Hassan’s as well and an apology was the least Semir could offer.

Andre seemed to be a little bit surprised at the sudden apology and Semir looked away, feeling warmth creeping up to his cheeks. 

“Yeah…” Andre nodded and turned his gaze to the ground” I’m sorry too.”

*****

Engelhardt lit another cigarette, inhaling and exhaling a small puff of smoke.

“The situation is like this Mr. Fux, the evidence for Freiter’s successful prosecution is lacking, Hassan Gerkhan’s testimony won’t be enough, at best we’ve got a fraud, tampering with an ongoing investigation.”

“And what about attempted murder? That’s at least another six years, with all the dirt that bastard has on his shirt, it should be enough to put him away for a while until we get the rest,” Andre paced around the room like a wild animal trapped in a cage. Engelhardt watched him with a grim expression, taking another drag of her cigarette.

“It would have, if Semir hasn’t trespassed to enter his property, Freiter’s lawyers can easily turn that into a case of self-defense. It’s already difficult enough to keep Freiter from taking legal actions regarding that and believe me, it wouldn’t be easy to justify.” She explained.

Andre slammed his hand against a nearby surface, cursing under his breath “There’s got to be something we can do about this, what about the motive? It’s obvious now that they can’t pin it on Hassan Gerkhan after Freiter tried to kill him, Teppel’s wife has an alibi,” he waved his hand towards the door, ”that leaves only Freiter, who not only had the motive, but resources to pull it off! Everything he’s done up to this point, just proves the man’s guilt!”

“That much is clear, but those are still just speculations,” Engelhardt tapped the ash from the tip of her cigarette in an ashtray “Have you been able to speak with Semir about what happened at Freiter’s residence? His cousin’s testimony might not be solid, but Semir might have some dirt on the guy, if Freiter was innocent as he claims, he would have just reported him for trespassing, not shoot him.”

“Not much, I didn’t want to bring it up until he was feeling better, there’s no point in stressing him out right now” Andre ran a hand through his hair, “but I figured Semir discovered something that I didn’t, I only found out from one of the girls at the bar that Freiter might be using Hassan to do his dirty work but that was it.”

Engelhardt put out the rest of her cigarette and ran a hand through her hair. “If we want to ensure that Freiter goes down one hundred percent, we’ll need Semir to testify. How long is he going to stay in the hospital?”

“Three weeks at least, he’d probably want to go now if we told him about the whole ordeal with Freiter, but I really don’t want to put him through that, it’s just not happening.” Andre exhaled.

“I don’t know if we can afford to wait that long, Mr.Fux, neither do I think Freiter will sit around for that long and wait, as much as I wish for Semir to have a peaceful recovery, three weeks is enough time to build up a strong defense.”

“Should have shot that prick when I had the chance and be done with it.” Andre frowned and slammed his hand down on top of Engelhardt’s desk just a little too forcefully, earning himself a glare from the chief.

*****

Several days have passed since Semir’s admittance to the hospital and he was already getting bored to death, even when Andre and the others paid him regular visits, nobody was telling him much about the development of his case and the fact that even Herzberger and Bonrath weren’t willing to tell him much was worrying enough.

So when Andre showed up later that day bringing him some of his favourite snacks (which admittedly Semir just blatantly asked for, so no thoughtfulness involved there), he picked the moment to just openly ask.

“So when are you going to tell me what’s happening with the case? Because I’m kind of tired of this whole ‘don’t tell Semir, or you’ll get in trouble’ charade.”

Andre looked at him with a raised eyebrow from where he was sprawled in a seat by the window.

“There’s nothing happening as of now, so not much to say,” he shrugged.

Semir glared at him.

“What?” Andre asked.

“If you won’t tell me right now what’s going on, I will go to the station and look over the files myself.” Semir threatened.

“Like hell you will, you can barely stand up.”

“You seriously think that would stop me with what’s at stake?” Semir crossed his arms.

Andre huffed angrily and pushed himself to his feet, walking over to Semir’s bed and sitting beside him.

“We don’t have enough evidence to prosecute Freiter for Teppel’s murder, the court’s at hold,” he said finally.

Semir blinked at him blankly.

“What do you mean we don’t have enough evidence? Who else would have done it? And don’t tell me they’re still accusing Hassan. I thought we’ve already been over this!” 

Andre shook his head. “He’s not being accused of the murder as far as I know, but neither is Freiter, at least for now.”

“He literally tried to kill me, that’s not a dead giveaway of his guilt?” Semir looked at him desperately.

“Engelhardt said his lawyers might play that into self-defense, since you trespassed.”

“Are you kidding me? He took my gun and left, what kind of self defense would that be?.” Semir said.

Andre stretched his legs and thought for a moment, “Did he tell you anything?”

Semir pressed his back against the frame of his bed “He said a lot, plenty to make him guilty as hell” he explained, ”The moment I told him I had a witness, he threatened to kill them. Hassan was there the entire time. He’ll tell you the same.”

“You found a witness?” Andre straightened in surprise. Semir raised his hand before his partner got too excited.

Hassan’s sister saw Freiter plant the cash in the apartment the night before you went there with a warrant. He confessed to taking Teppel’s money the night at his house and how else would he get the money if he wasn’t responsible for killing him? Just have his accounting looked over. He claimed he already invested the money, a quarter of two millions sticks out like a sore thumb.” He pointed out.

Andre whistled.

“Not bad, not bad at all.”

“You could have told me earlier Andre, the less time Freiter has to think up more lies, the easier it’ll be to take him down.” Semir said sorrowfully. 

Andre raised an eyebrow and looked him over. “Did you heal up when I wasn’t looking?”

Semir rolled his eyes. “I think I’d handle sitting down and talking in front of a group of people, you’re treating this as if it’s something requiring top physical shape, people testified in worse conditions.”

“You know that this isn’t a competition of how crippled can you be to testify,” Andre looked at his watch and patted Semir on the leg “I’ve gotta go, I’ll talk to Engelhardt and we’ll see what we can do about speeding up the court hearing. Get some rest.”

“Call me if they give you a date, alright?” Semir demanded and Andre vaguely waved his hand in a goodbye and left the room. Once the door closed, Semir leaned back against the bedframe and grabbed a stray pillow, cradling it against his chest, wincing when he put too much pressure on his still healing wound.

“Should have known it wouldn’t be easy…”

*****

_ Later on that night _

Semir looked at his phone with furrowed brows, he got out of the bed and walked over to the window. When Andre called him earlier, the news wasn’t as good as Semir hoped it would be, the court hearing couldn’t begin until the next week which left Freiter more than enough time to dig himself out of whatever else they could throw at him.

Well, at least Andre tried.

Since the argument, Semir felt something change between the two of them. He always felt drawn to his partner, it was difficult not to, Andre was a very attractive man and Semir was never ashamed to admit that he found him good looking, but this was different. The night Andre entered that room and looked at him, Semir felt like he was looking at someone else, his partner’s usual composure completely overshadowed with emotions to a degree that he hasn’t seen before.

It was difficult to say if Andre was in any way attracted to him, but with the way he’s been around him lately, Semir felt hopeful.

Maybe there would be time to talk about this after they’ve dealt with Freiter, they haven’t really discussed much what happened between them. Semir admittedly avoided it a little bit more because he was worried it would just lead to another argument, but the way Andre has been around him since reassured him that it might not end up disastrously after all.

A distant screech of tires tore him out of his thoughts and he saw a car speeding down the road and coming to an abrupt halt in front of the hospital. As it stopped, Semir found much to his surprise that it was Andre’s Mercedes and his partner came rushing out and straight to the main entrance.

Semir watched him in concern and then turned and went out to see what was that all about. He knew he probably shouldn’t be walking around, but he didn’t feel like lying in bed, especially not when Andre was driving like a maniac to get there.

He made it down the corridor just as Andre came sprinting around the corner nearly knocking him over.

“Andre, what’s going on?” Semir asked worriedly while Andre looked around furiously.

“You’re alright, good, okay-” He huffed, still out of breath from sprinting up four flights of stairs.

Semir looked at him in confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be? What happened?”

Just as he said that, he saw in the corner of his eye movement near the staircase and his heart skipped a beat when he saw a raised gun aiming in their direction. He took a handful of Andre’s coat and pulled him in a mere second before a bullet lodged itself in a nearby wall. 

Andre cursed and went for his gun, pushing Semir back just as another set of shots rang out. 

“A word got to Freiter which hospital you’re in!” Andre shouted and returned fire.

Semir winced when a chunk of the wall shattered under the spray of shots and sent a dust cloud in their faces. There were multiple shooters, and they were definitely not in a good position to fight back, Semir looked back and saw a nearby emergency exit, he patted his partner’s shoulder and when Andre turned, he pointed at the door, “We have to get them out of here, there’re patients and staff all around this floor!” 

Andre glanced at the door and then at Semir and nodded.

They quickly made it towards the door and Andre grabbed a nearby sign to block the handle, buying them a little time. Semir looked at the stairs with a pained expression, but went ahead, wincing at each pull on the stitches, Andre followed him a moment later and not long after that they could already hear the banging and kicking at the barricaded door. They barely made it to the second flight of stairs when Semir just had to stop and rest for a moment, Andre immediately stopped as well and looked at him worriedly but Semir waved his hand “I’ll be fine, just give me a second” 

Andre instantly climbed back up towards him and Semir looked on in confusion as his partner got right up to his face and-

“No, no, no, wait, wait!” Semir stuttered as Andre moved in to do exactly what Semir feared he would do.

And he was literally swept off his feet in one smooth motion as Andre picked him up in his arms.

“ **Fuck** !  _ Goddamn it Andre _ ” Semir winced, clutching at his abused abdomen. 

“Sorry little bird, desperate times call for desperate measures, you good? ” Andre asked and started moving down the stairs. There was a loud crash above them as the attackers finally broke through and Andre rushed down the remaining stairs narrowly avoiding bullets.

Once reaching the bottom floor, Andre slowly placed Semir back on his feet and they made their way towards the entrance, several more shots rang out as they reached the car and Andre shot one of the attackers before stepping on the gas and speeding down the road.

Semir looked in the side mirror with a frown, hopefully they didn’t kill anyone during their rampage.

Andre’s hand on his arm turned his attention back to his partner. Andre slowed down the car and looked at him with concern. “You’re bleeding.”

Semir looked down and saw a red stain at the bottom of his shirt. He pulled the fabric up to reveal an oozing wound at which even Andre winced. Semir pulled the shirt back down and pressed his hand firmly against it, “Torn stitches, it couldn’t be helped.”

Andre turned his attention back on the road “Maybe I should have been more careful when I picked you up” he said with regret, but Semir wouldn’t have any of that.

“I’m pretty sure that boat has sailed way before that, I’m more worried about those hitmen, I’ve seen at least four back then and that’s pretty excessive for a bar owner.”

Andre glanced at the rear mirror; there didn’t seem to be anybody following them.

“Probably courtesy of his business partners, from the evidence we gathered from his place it looked like he had a couple of friends who wouldn’t mind stepping over corpses for some cash.”

“How did you even find out they’d be after me?” Semir asked with curiosity.

“Watched the people Freiter had a record of working with and in the most recent phone call they talked about the hospital you were in. There was no other tie to it besides you.” Andre explained.

Semir glanced at the radio.

“I’d ask you if you called for reinforcements, but I’m guessing you didn’t.”

“I was trying to get there as fast as possible. I wasn’t really thinking that far ahead, ” Andre said in annoyance.

“The hospital most likely already called the police, so it doesn’t matter” Semir assured, “The guy you shot will need medical attention, we might be able to track him down.”

Andre furrowed his brow and glanced at Semir’s wound “I’m dropping you off at the station, Bonrath and Herzberger will take you to another hospital to get that stitched back.”

“And what are you planning to do?” Semir questioned and crossed his arms.

Andre pulled out his phone and dialed a number “I’m going back of course - Herzberger? Yeah, I’m going to need you to head back to the station, I’m bringing Semir... I don’t care that you were on your way home, I should have been home six hours ago and I’m not crying about it! Get back to the station, it’s important,” he threw the phone back and Semir raised an eyebrow “And you are supposed to rely on those people with your life,” Andre grumbled.

“I wouldn’t trust them with a canary, let alone myself.” Semir looked at him doubtfully. 

“You’ll be fine,” Andre reassured and patted him on the leg, Semir peered at the hand on his leg and turned his head towards the window, hiding his smile.

*****

“Jesus, Semir what happened?” Herzberger eyed his young colleague and along with Bonrath they rushed to his aid as Andre drove off. Semir waved his hand to stop their fussing and slowly made his way towards the office.

“Long story Herzberger, but Freiter and hitmen should summarize it,” he said.

The two officers shared a surprised look, Bonrath reach out to Semir before he walked through the door and looked him up and down.

“Didn’t Andre say you ripped your stitches? We should take you to the hospital.”

Semir rolled his eyes and brushed his hand away, opening the door.

“We’ll go there. I just want a quick look on the case files. I might as well help out while I’m here.”

He made his way towards Andre’s desk and browsed through his papers, pulling up a sleeve of the coat Andre gave him in the car, he left the hospital pretty lightly dressed.

Amongst some of the collected evidence from Freiter’s apartment there was a script from one of the wired calls, Semir looked over it and caught a glimpse of name of the hospital he was in. So this was the one that sent Andre rushing to his rescue, then…

He shuffled through the remaining conversations, reading through them while Herzberger and Bonrath stood by the door restlessly.

_ I don’t know what to do, if he’s going to jail, the deal’s off _

_ We don’t need him out; we just need the cut _

_ Freiter’s not stupid, he hid the money well _

_ You’re giving that idiot too much credit; he left two living witnesses behind _

_ What do you mean? You think they know where it is? _

_ Of course they do _

_ But one of them is in jail and the other is a cop, how do you expect to get anything out of them? _

_ Meet me at six tonight. I’d rather not discuss this over the phone _

Semir read the exchange in silent shock. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped a little, immediately regretting his reaction as it reminded him of his injury.

“Okay, Semir that’s enough, we have to go.” Herzberger said and pulled Semir away from the table.

Semir nodded somewhat dazedly and went along as thoughts rushed through his mind.

“You better not pass out on us” Bonrath looked at him with worry and Semir blinked.

“No, no, I’m fine.” He reassured.

“You went kind of pale there, ” Bonrath said.

What made those people believe that either him or Hassan knew where the money was? He couldn’t remember for the life of him Freiter ever mentioning what he did with it besides saying that he invested it.

As he sat in the back of his colleagues’ patrol car, he couldn’t stop thinking about what he might have missed.

*****

After Andre returned to the scene of shooting, he was met with the officers called by the hospital staff and unfortunately, with a dead body of the hitman he shot during their escape. His accomplices didn’t want to risk him talking and finished what Andre had started and then disappeared. 

With the added risk, Engelhardt moved Semir into a safe house, his injury did not require active supervision and so it was the best solution until they proceeded with the court hearing.

Semir didn’t see his partner much after the relocation, since Andre put all his time and focus into gathering all the evidence he could on the businessmen who tried to kill him. So that left Semir with a lot of time to reflect on what Freiter might have said that would point to where he put the money.

There weren’t many words exchanged between them and all Semir could recall was something about an oasis, but that could mean anything. He definitely couldn’t recall any place that would carry that name and even after he asked Andrea, she found nothing, so it probably wasn’t a business.

Semir paced around the room and felt and overwhelming frustration at being unable to do anything. He needed to go out there and look for this place, gold oasis wasn’t much to follow up on, but it was the only thing he could think of. Freiter was clearly not going to talk and the court hearing was coming up quickly. Semir felt well enough to return to work, but because of the attempt on his life, Engelhardt wouldn’t have none of it and so he was stuck there.

To his surprise, Andre showed up at the safe house before Semir could even pick up the phone and call him. Andre seemed pretty tired and Semir could only guess that he spent some sleepless nights over this case. So after his partner walked in and went straight to the sofa, sitting down heavily, Semir headed for the small kitchen to make them both some coffee.

“So I only tracked down one of the guys that was at the hospital, but since he’s been arrested he’s refusing to talk, all we got is that it’s some Ukrainian by the name of Maksym Kravchuk, he worked as a bouncer at a strip bar called Alegria” Andre explained when Semir returned with two warm cups.

Semir sat down next to him on the sofa, handing Andre his coffee, who took it gratefully “What did the owner have to say about that?” He asked.

“Denied everything as you’d expect, but he couldn’t deny one thing and that was his business deal with Freiter, one of the girls talked.”

Semir smiled “You worked your charm again?”

Andre threw him a side glare, but it held no malice “No, I just politely asked and she told me.”

“Uh-uh, what did she say?” Semir queried.

“That Freiter and he were planning to merge business and invest in a construction of a huge brothel.”

That caught Semir’s interest.

“Freiter talked about investing the money he took from Teppel in something, that sounds like it could be it.”

Andre nodded, “Yeah, but where’s the money then?” he took a sip of his coffee placed the cup on the table “We went through all of his records, he didn’t deposit it anywhere and his business partners clearly didn’t see a mark either, so the only other option is that he physically hid it somewhere.”

Semir thought for a moment.

Then he asked.

“Did you read the rest of the script from those wired calls? Back when they went after me at the hospital?”

Andre raised his eyes to the ceiling thoughtfully. “I think I have, why?”

“They thought that Hassan and I know where the money is.”

Andre frowned “Wait, how do you know what was in the script?”

Semir shrugged innocently “Since you dropped me off at the station, I thought I might as well take a look myself, but anyway that’s not important…” He waved off Andre’s eye roll “Do you think Freiter talked to any of them since he got locked up?”

“It’s possible, as far as I know, he wasn’t too restricted when he was arrested. What are you thinking of, that he might have intentionally led them on to get rid of you without getting his hands dirty? That still doesn’t explain why he would risk so much to have you killed.”

Semir frowned.

“No, but I have a feeling why. After he shot me he said something about gold oasis, it was random and didn’t make any sense so I didn’t think much of it, but I’m starting to think that it’s related to where he hid the money.”

“Gold oasis?” Andre asked curiously, “That sounds familiar.”

Semir looked at him. “It does?”

“The girl from Alegria talked about the new business being called something like ‘oasis of gold’, that could be it.”

Semir almost jumped in excitement. “Did she know where they would have it constructed?”

Andre downed the rest of his coffee and stood up “No, but I’ll find out soon enough.” Semir stood up as well and grabbed Andre’s arm, his partner paused.

“I could come with you. This is as much my case as it is yours.” Semir suggested.

“Come on, Semir…” Andre sighed.

But he was having none of it.

“I’m completely fine and we both know that it’ll be faster if we work together,” Semir pressed on “Besides, if we are right and the money is near that construction site, they won’t have a reason to keep going after me or Hassan, it’s ridiculous to keep me there-”

“I know,” Andre took a hold of Semir’s wrist and pulled his hand down with unusual gentleness “But it’s not that easy, the only way to find out where it was supposed to be build is to back to Alegria and if the owner really hired that bouncer to kill you, he would recognize you.”

“I’m fed up with hiding, Andre. Especially now that we’re running out of time and this might be the only chance to prove that Freiter killed Teppel and took his money.”

“Look,” Andre said “When I find out where the construction site is, I’ll come pick you up and we’ll go there together.”

Semir’s eyes brightened at that “Really?”

“Really,” Andre nodded with assurance, “Might have to sneak you out to avoid being questioned by the patrol watching over you, but yeah, we’ll go together.”

That was good enough for Semir and he smiled, “Alright, I take your word for it. Consider me intrigued.”

Andre’s lips quirked in amusement and moved his hand, curling it around Semir’s neck until it rested at his nape and he squeezed gently. Semir watched him in silent surprise as Andre leaned in and stopped mere centimeters from his face.

“You’ve been intriguing me for a while, little bird” He said in such an alluring tone, Semir felt goose bumps on his arms, but he composed himself quickly and graced his partner with a warm admiring smile and reached out to place his hand on Andre’s cheek, caressing it gently.

“I hope only in the best possible ways,” he chuckled and Andre in return, graced him with one of his own rare smiles.

Then Andre’s phone rang, and they both looked at his pocket with a disappointed sigh. They took a step back from each other, Semir regretfully letting Andre go so he could answer the call.

However, Andre continued to look at him with a very predatory stare and Semir fought the blush creeping up to his cheeks.

“Yeah, go ahead, I’m all ears,” Andre said and mouthed ‘Andrea’ to Semir who made an understanding ‘oh’.

Semir made to move past Andre to clean up the mugs while he dealt with his phone call, but as soon as he made the step to move past him, Andre grabbed him by the arm, Semir opened his mouth to ask him what was he doing, but that was no longer possible as Andre efficiently shut him up with his own mouth. Despite of the unusual situation and Andre still holding the phone up to his ear, neither man made any attempt to stop, instead Semir’s hands curled around Andre’s neck, pulling him down and savoring the kiss and Andre more than happy to oblige wrapped his free hand around Semir’s back, keeping their bodies pressed tightly against one another. Andre momentarily broke the kiss to say “Yes, of course I’m listening,” and immediately sunk back into ravishing his eager partner.

Their passionate exchange only lasted a few moments before Andre was ending the call. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. ”

Semir planted several small kisses on his mouth as Andre tucked the phone away. “Fifteen minutes, huh?” he teased.

“We’ll continue this later,” Andre promised and kissed a trail down his throat, earning himself a shudder from the smaller man, “We’ll need all the free time we can get with what I’m planning to do to you.”

At last, they finally separated enough for Andre to actually make his way towards the door, he pointed at Semir “Be nice”

Semir laughed and shook his head incredulously. Andre winked at him and left.


	2. Chapter 2

It would not be easy to find the money, Semir was dimly aware, even if they found the construction site, Freiter wasn’t specific where he hid it so they would still need to search the place from top to bottom.

Semir warily looked at his phone, hoping that Andre would find the construction’s location soon, when the door opened and Eike and her partner David greeted him.

“Hey Semir, I hope you weren’t waiting for long” Eike said with a smile and placed a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter.

“No, not really” Semir tucked away his phone.

Eike began to unload the groceries while David headed for the routine check of the outside of the house.

The young woman waited for her partner to get out of sight before she leaned over to Semir who idly browsed through a newspaper they brought.

“You know that Mercedes that passed us on the way here looked awfully familiar, you do know that he’s not supposed to come here, right?” She teased.

Semir raised his head in surprise. “He’s not?”

Eike shook her head with a chuckle.

“No, Engelhardt forbid it because Freiter’s friends figured out that he’s your partner after the hospital attack and the boss was concerned that they would put one and one together and follow him to get to you.”

Semir’s eyebrows slowly rose higher as she continued on.

“Wait, so if Engelhardt forbid Andre from coming here, how did he know where I am? Surely she wouldn’t tell him which safehouse it is.”

“I don’t know,” Eike shrugged. “I’m guessing he either followed us or got the location out of Hotte and Bonrath. I think it’s sort of nice, even if little bit reckless.”

Semir nodded. “He’s been a little bit impulsive. I’m just surprised that he never mentioned it."

“Guess he was just being cautious, it’s been boring at the office without you around, can’t blame him for going the extra mile,” Eike nudged him. Semir bit back a smile and looked away.

“What is taking David so long?” She said suddenly and placed the rest of the groceries in the fridge before heading towards the door. “I hope he didn’t get lost out there.”

Semir watched her hardly make it two steps before the door flew open, he shouted in warning as Eike was hit with a metal stick across the face, her form crumbling to the ground immediately.

Semir’s attempt at an escape was swiftly halted by one of the masked intruder’s guns aimed at his head, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” They warned him.

Aware of his disadvantage over four individuals, as it seemed by now, Semir remained where he was, glaring at the gun steadily aimed at him.

“Let’s go for a ride, yeah?” One of the men said, and soon, Semir was carefully stepping over Eike’s bleeding form and getting led out of the door. David was hopefully only knocked out, as Semir didn’t see any sign of him. He prayed somebody would check on them when they did not report in.

Once he was led outside and shoved towards a readied vehicle, he examined his captors. Tall, not overly muscular, but fit enough, it was possible that at least one of them could have been a bouncer based on his suit, the rest maybe a hired muscle, they wore more casual clothes. Jeans and jackets. Only the man in the suit moved with confidence as he shoved Semir inside the car, while the rest stood there with uncertainty.

“What are we gonna do with the two?” One of them asked as the suited man handcuffed Semir’s hands behind his back.

“Take the girl’s gun and phone if she has one, don’t worry about the guy, he’s been dealt with” The man slammed the car door closed before Semir could say anything and so he was only plagued with the thought of his colleague laying somewhere out there in the forest, presumably dead.

The car drove off shortly after that, the destination unknown.

****

Andre checked his phone after leaving Alegria and noticed a missed call from Andrea, surprised that he didn’t hear it, he called her back straight away; she picked up after second ring.

“Andrea, what’s-” 

“The officers guarding Semir were attacked, Semir’s missing!” she cut him off, her voice frantic and filled with panic.

Andre’s hand froze on the handle of his car. “What?” 

“Eike called from the house, her partner was stabbed and she was knocked out, Semir was missing when she woke up, no signs of who or where they took him,” she continued with shaky voice, ”Englehardt wants you to come back to the office, they’re gathering a search party.”

Andre’s knuckles whitened under the immense grip he had on the handle, guilt bundled up in the back of his mind.

“Fuck” he cursed under his breath.

“What?” came Andrea’s confused voice from the other end, ”what happened?”

He finally opened the door and got in his car, shifting the phone from one hand to the other while he pulled out a map from underneath the seat.

“Listen,” he said and spread the map over his lap, ”Can you do something for me real quick and check if there’s been a recent construction in the industrial area of Frechener?”

“I-I guess, but-” She stuttered helplessly and Andre could hear her typing away on the keyboard.

“Please Andrea, it’s important.” Andre pressed on.

He started up the car and threw the map on the passenger seat. After a moment, Andrea’s voice came through once more.

“There’s documentation of two construction sites in the area, storage facility at Marienbornweg and another one at Burbacher, why do you need this?”

Andre glanced at the map and drove towards the highway.

“I’ll check both, they might have taken Semir there” he replied and barely avoided a collision, his driving just a little too erratic for the calm road.

“I’ll send for reinforcements then!” Andrea offered.

“No, not yet, let me check it out first, if they see a cavalry of cops, they might just kill him and book it. I’ll call when it’s safe, alright? Bye.” He replied and heard the faint shout of protest as he ended the call and tossed his phone aside.

He sped down the road like a madman, guilty thoughts swimming through his mind and the bitter realization that the kidnappers were most likely following him to the safehouse. If he only paid more attention to solving the case than getting carried away by his partner’s stupid adoring smiles, Semir wouldn’t be in danger again. However, his anger at Freiter’s business partners was slowly outweighing the anger at himself, he was getting sick of the entire ordeal. He took another screeching turn and soon he was on the highway easily crossing the 150km/h mark, heading straight for Frechener. He debated calling Semir, but he figured if they captured him, they most likely took his phone and if they didn’t, it would do no good to possibly have them find out.

As he neared his destination, his phone rang once more, he glanced at it and saw Engelhardt’s name; he cursed under his breath. He didn’t have time for this. He blindly grabbed for the phone and pressed the answer button “Fux.” He said plainly and pulled the phone away from his ear as his boss shouted right back at him.  
“What the HELL are you doing, Fux? Do you think going off on your own will help Semir? Have you gone mad? I’ve given a clear order for you to go back to the station! You and Semir are one of the most stubborn idiots I ever had to deal with, if you both get killed out there, I’ll come over there and finish you off myself!”

Once Andre was assured that she was done screaming at him, he answered.

“I’m sorry boss, but it’s easier this way, we can’t afford to wait if they already took Semir out there and more forces could be risky, this is the only way to get him out of there alive.”

There was a huff of frustration on the other side and a thud as she likely tossed something on her table.

“Fux, this is completely against the police protocol, you don’t know what they are going to do if they see you-”

“I don’t intend on just walking up to them!” He snapped and quickly gathered his bearings “I’m not just going to walk in there, I want to try get Semir out quietly, I know it won’t be easy but just trust me, please.”

There was a moment of silence on the other line and Andre waited anxiously, eyes still firmly on the road ahead, his adrenaline spiking through the roof, he needed her to cooperate; he needed her to trust him.

“Andre-”

“I’m not turning back.” He warned. He couldn’t turn back.

Engelhardt has always been incredibly tolerant of what he and Semir dropped on her. Andre just needed her this one more time.

“All right.”

Andre breathed a deep sigh of relief and fought a smile creeping up on his lips “Thank you, boss.”

“How long do you expect it to take you to get there?” She asked seriously.

He took a quick glance at the map.

“If I have to go through both locations, then at least twenty minutes.” 

“If you don’t call in twenty-five minutes, I’ll send out the reinforcements myself, got it?” She snapped.

He nodded more to himself than to her order. If he got Semir back that quickly, it would be the best outcome.

“Yeah, got it.” He acknowledged.

The phone line cut off at that and Andre tucked the phone in his breast pocket this time, the wrath of their boss was just a little bit more worrisome than a bunch of armed gangsters and he wasn’t up to testing her anymore than he has already.

Now he had to focus on getting Semir out in one piece, he floored the gas pedal.

****

As soon as they entered the industrial zone, Semir knew where they were heading to. He sat in between two of his captors, both of them clutching handguns in each hand, the gun muzzles poking him in the sides uncomfortably. The car went down a dirt road and Semir saw an unfinished concrete building ahead. At least six stories high, but still only bare walls, Freiter clearly didn’t have the time to put the money in continuing the construction before they arrested him.

The car came to a stop at the base of the building and Semir was ushered out, stumbling to his feet. His captors haven’t said anything to him on the way there and only now, the man in the suit addressed him once again.

“Freiter told you where he hid the money,” he said determinedly.

Semir looked at him, considering his response before speaking. He had to buy himself some time, Andre was looking for the construction site as well, after all.

“Somewhat, yes, ” he lied.

The men exchanged a look, visibly pleased that they got the right guy. They pushed him towards the building and he began a slow walk inside, determined to drag this out as much as possible. He had no idea how long would it take Andre to figure out where the place is, so his only goal was to keep them waiting.

His hands ached from the tightened handcuffs and the uncomfortable angle they were in behind his back, but his bit the inside of his cheek and continued slow and steady up the first flight of stairs. His captors muttered to one another behind him, while the man in the suit remained silent with his gun in his hand and eyes burning into Semir’s back. At this point, Semir started to believe that this wasn’t just a bouncer, but the actual owner of one of the bars, thus, one of the direct business partners of Freiter.

“You are taking your sweet time,” the man grumbled in his ear and pushed Semir forward with the muzzle of his gun.

“If you don’t want us to keep wandering here aimlessly, you’ll have to trust me” he assured the man carefully, keeping his tone as calm as possible regardless of his increasing anxiety.

The man only groused in response, clearly unsatisfied with the answer but not pushing the issue further.

Semir had no clue where they were going, but lead them to every single corner he could find, stopping at anything that would seem just a little bit out of place. His anxiety was about to skyrocket through the roof, when the men finally stopped him at third floor, shoving him hard against one of the pillars.

“We’re just wandering here like headless chickens, the bastard has no idea where to go!” one of the thugs hissed. He was pulled off of Semir by the man in the suit in an instant.

“Nobody asked you for your opinions!” the man spat and the thug hesitantly backed off.

“Do you think Freiter would give him a hand-painted direction where he hid the money? Of course the fucker would be vague about it.”

“But we’ve been here for twenty minutes already!” the thug argued.

“And we’ll be here for twenty more, or are you giving up your cut?” the man cocked his gun and stabbed the muzzle between the thug’s eyes.

Semir took the moment of the men arguing to look over the edge, he scanned the area until he caught a glimpse of what he prayed to see, the blue Mercedes. He almost let out a cry of relief. Andre was here.

He couldn’t spot his partner anywhere, but Andre was definitely nearby, and that was enough to keep Semir going.

****

Upon spotting the car by the unfinished building, Andre quickly parked in the distance and ran towards the construction on foot monitoring anybody possibly watching.

As he got closer, he spotted several figures on the upper floors. He had to get up there without being noticed, which was considerably difficult when the building was a concrete skeleton with no obvious walls. Andre immediately began his climb, the adrenaline pumping through his veins, pushing him on. His endurance was put to a solid test as he fought with each passing second to get to his target as quickly as possible, twenty-five minute mark on the brink of arrival. He’ll have to make the call soon, but he needed to grab Semir first, he wasn’t sure how he would do that, but he would sure as hell give it his best. With a grunt, he pulled himself up to another floor.

****

Semir led the group up another floor, but this time wandered closer to the edge, he needed to be able to look for a potential escape route in case Andre didn’t make it up there on time. His captors were already suspicious of how much he actually knew about the location of the money and even the man in suit watched him with frustration.

He’d have to do something soon, or it wouldn’t end well. He inched closer towards the edge where he thought he’d seen scaffolding when the men began arguing amongst each other again.

“There’s no way he knows where he’s going, we’re wasting our time!”

“Quit fucking whining already or I’m going to throw you off the side!”

He watched them carefully and continued to shuffle his way towards the edge. He hated heights, but the scaffolding was probably the only secure way out of there. He couldn’t keep waiting anymore; they were clearly losing their patience.

Just as the heel of his foot lost ground beneath it, there was a firm grip on his ankle and he was pulled down, the suddenness made him shout in surprise, immediately alerting the men to his fall and Semir could only see them making an attempt to grab him mere seconds before he was out of reach.

He shut his eyes, expecting a painful landing, but two strong arms grabbed him around the waist and slowed down the impact. He reopened his eyes to be met with his partner’s grey ones.

“Andre!” he gasped in relief, his partner gave him a breathless smile and nod, before ushering them away from the edge as shots began to fire at where they just stood.

As soon as they were out of range, Andre held Semir firmly by the shoulders.  
“I thought I told you to wait for me and you get yourself kidnapped!” He shouted over the shots and swiftly removed Semir’s handcuffs with his own key.

Semir laughed.

“Well, we’re both here now, aren’t we? Wasn’t that the goal?!”

Their reunion was cut short by one of the men jumping down the scaffolding, landing hard on his back, they snapped their heads towards him, then at each other and bolted for the stairs as he stumbled to his feet and aimed his gun at them.

Once reaching the stairs, Andre pulled Semir along as bullets started buzzing past them and hitting the pillars behind them, they ran to second floor while the rest of the thugs caught up and Semir only narrowly dragged Andre behind a nearby pillar before a bullet lodged in his spine. They collapsed behind it, Semir keeping a tight hold on his partner somewhat awkwardly sprawled between his legs, bullets lodging in the ground mere inches from their limbs.

“Semir, ease it up a bit so I can shoot back” Andre patted Semir’s arm that had an iron grip on his own. Semir immediately let go as if burned.

“Sorry!” He grimaced apologetically. Andre squeezed his hand with a brief smirk and leaned over his partner, holding his gun up steadily and shooting several well-aimed shots at their enemy. The cry of pain was a good indicator that Andre wouldn’t need to go to the shooting range for another six months.

When he moved back to reload his handgun, he paused briefly and checked his watch. He cursed under his breath and pulled out his phone, shoving it in Semir’s hand.

“Call boss, I’m two minutes behind on requesting backup, hopefully she won’t rip my head off.”

Semir gave him a surprised look, but dialed her regardless.

Andre decided to shoot just as it began to ring, so Semir covered his ear with a grimace.

“Hello boss?! It’s Semir, I-what?! No, we’re both okay, Andre’s just busy shooting! No, I’m not kidding, why would I be kidding about something like that?!”

Andre suddenly quickly pulled him up to his feet and dragged him towards another pillar as Semir continued the phone call. “We could use some backup here, yeah!”

He ended the call as Andre pulled back to reload again.

“She sounded furious, what did you do?” Semir asked.

“I don’t know, she’s just having a bad day probably!” Andre replied and leaned over him to return fire.

Semir felt something oddly sticky on his back and reached behind him, pulling his hand back with bits of something resembling a clay. He quickly turned around in the small space he shared with Andre, making his partner grunt in frustration as the movement messed up his aim. Semir’s eyes widened when he realized what he just touched.

“Andre” he gasped and his partner threw him a look.

Semir nodded at the wall and Andre saw the very obviously planted C-4.

He halted his shooting and shared a shocked look with Semir, before they looked around the rest of the floor, only to be met with multiple charges planted on some of the pillars.

“We have to get out of here!” Semir shouted and pointed at the near miss of another C-4 not far behind.

“And where exactly do you want to go?! There’s nowhere to cover and you don’t have a gun!” Andre shouted back.

“We gotta run, it’s either get shot at or get blown up!”

Andre watched in disbelief as his partner bolted straight towards the stairs, bullets ricocheting off the ground underneath his feet, missing him by mere centimeters. The shooters were thrown off by his stunt well enough to lose focus, so Andre went right after Semir and prayed that their bad aim remained.

Semir rushed down couple of stairs, waiting for Andre halfway through when there was a huge explosion and the ground beneath them shook. Andre barely kept his balance, stumbling down the stairs and straight into Semir as the shock wave pushed him forward. Semir, unable to keep his own balance under the sudden weight of his partner, fell backwards and dragged Andre with him. The several steps down were quick and painful trip and they landed at the bottom in a bundled heap of limbs and groans.

There was a distinctive sound of a crumbling wall as the concrete gave in underneath the sudden instability and large portion of the floor above them, fell through in a cloud of debris and dust. Andre and Semir coughed and helped each other to their feet, looking at the carnage the explosion caused. The men exploded one of the C-4s and judging by the silence, they’ve been in the explosion's range.

The two inspectors approached the pile of debris carefully, as the dust cleared off; they saw torn pieces of clothing and splotches of red over various boulders. Semir observed the carnage sadly, no matter how bad those people were, that was a terrible way to go.

Another rumbling sound echoed through the building and both men looked up. Large crack formed across the upper floor, the gaping hole left after the explosion caused instability.They shared a look of shock and bolted for the last set of stairs while the rumbling continued on, until it became louder and louder and by the time their feet hit the last remaining steps, there was another massive boom as the unfinished structure began to collapse in on itself.

They kept running even as the cloud of dust surrounded them and debris of various sizes smashed to pieces at their feet, narrowly missing them.

They ran until they began to trip over the fallen concrete and ultimately ended up falling in a heap, holding each other close as the surrounding chaos receded.

And then it was quiet.

It felt like an eternity until Semir felt like it was okay to open his eyes, the dusty air stung his eyes and scratched at his throat when he slowly raised his head to see what was left. BIg pile of rubble. So much for a two million marks project.

Remembering that he wasn’t alone, he frantically reached for his partner, realizing that he hasn’t moved yet.

“Andre? Andre?” He shook him violently, fear seizing him.

At last, his partner stirred and coughed, he groggily made to sit up but before he managed, Semir hugged him tightly with his arms around his neck and sent them both falling on the ground again.

“Whoa, careful, I don’t need a second concussion…” Andre rubbed the back of his head with a wince, Semir pulled away just enough so he could help Andre sit back up, but remained practically on his lap. They were both covered in dirt and dust from head to toe, it must have been quite a sight.

“You okay?” Semir asked.

Andre nodded and looked over him at the pile of a rubble,”I guess we’ll never know if that money was there or not.”

“Maybe it’s for the best” Semir wiped the dirt off Andre’s face and with a mischievous smile, kissed his unexpecting partner hard. The split second confusion and surprise on his face was absolutely priceless, but soon the kiss was returned with just as much vigor.

Their intimate moment was interrupted by pieces of paper falling on their heads and they pulled away to look up. Andre let go of Semir to catch one of the papers and sure enough.

Andre flipped the one hundred mark bill in his hand.

“Would you look at that…” he grinned in disbelief.

Semir grabbed the bill from him and whistled.

“Not bad, guess you can afford to take me out for dinner now.”

Andre chuckled.

“Why am I the one paying?”

Semir waved the bill in front of him.

“You caught it, not me.”

Andre wiped some of the dirt off Semir’s face. “Well, I’m not taking you out looking like that.”

Semir ran a hand down his partner’s face and showed him his dirty hand. “You’re one to talk.”

They smiled at each other.

Soon there were lights flashing in the distance and both men got to their feet. There was time for more later.


End file.
